Today is a brand new day, just like yesterday but completely different. I hope that it has been a good day for you and that you are ready to face the year ahead. We seem to place so much emphasis on the new year. We make resolutions and plan to do better things with our lives. I hope that this year, you are able to meet those plans and do those better things.

The power is in your hands to make a difference.

I am in awe at how privileged I am to be able to so completely change my life. My new life starts today too. The power is in my hands to either make a massive difference in the lives of many people or to throw it away and waste all that I have been blessed with. I fully realise that the easy path is the fun one, the one that is wasteful and useless. The harder path is the one in which I will be able to make a difference. I know that I have the support of my friends and family. I know that I am embarking on a journey that feels right and so I hope that God will smile on it. I feel rested and relaxed and it is time for me to unleash all that I have. I hope that you will feel it too!!!

My message to you today, is go out and do something that is difficult but will make a difference to somebody! And then go and do it again tomorrow, and the next day and ….…..

I will try and do the same on my side and hopefully together we can make a real difference.

Tonight is the end of the year as we know it. It is really fitting that I have been able to complete my business plan for my life this morning AND have it approved by management here at home. Lucky for me, my wife found the plan to be quite acceptable! I suppose that the planning is the easy part of the deal, the hard part is to ensure that all is implemented. Perhaps I should not refer to it as the hard part, surely this is going to be the fun and interesting part. The part that is going to keep me on my toes and thinking hard. It is certainly the part that is going to teach me a number of hard lessons. I really am looking forward to it all. I hope that one day when I look back on my life (God willing), I will be able to say that I gave it my best shot!

The new life plan is a very interesting document. I have been able to plan my entire life in the way that I want it to happen. Obviously I have factored in a couple of things that cannot change (like where we want the kids to go to school, etc.). Apart from this, the rest is the way I want it to be. I can’t help thinking again how blessed I am to be able to make those kinds of decisions with the very real possibility that it may all turn out better than I expect.

One of the aspects that I am going to have to deal with, is that the job of a self employed businessman (and I use this term loosely as I have not brought in a cent yet) has no boundaries. There are NO limits except for the limits that I impose of my self. I have always been, to use a clichéd term, a “go getter”. I now need to find some sort of feedback mechanism that will tell me when enough is enough. In my old job, that was easy, I had agreed my deliverables with my boss and worked towards them. Now, I am that boss that agrees those deliverables and the employee who needs to attain them. Chances are that I am going to push far too hard. I think more than ever I am going to rely on my friends and family as that feedback mechanism. Certainly my wife is going to continue being the core of my support and let me know when enough is enough. On the other hand, I have no doubt that she will let me know if I am lazing around!!

Whatever happens in this new year, it is going to be a phenomenal learning experience for me. I relish the challenge and look forward to some new and fantastic experiences. I wish you and your family much success, love and laughter in the year ahead!